Johnny Hasay (left) goes down to
defeat to Greg Smith in the preliminary round as several onlookers
watch the action and check out strategy articles from The GENERAL.

The turnout was 22 players this year, down from the record
highs of the two previous years. Fortunately, the flexible starting
times and recruitment of new players into the tournament made
a big difference in offsetting some of the loss of players. The
ratio of victories also shifted dramatically in favor of the
British, with the Brits winning 13 matches to the Germans 6!
Obviously the supply dice were not kind to Rommel's Afrika Korps
this year, as defense would play a decisive role in determining
this year's champion.

In the first round, the balance was relatively even, with
six British victories to four German, and one player advancing
by forfeit. Also for the first time, there were several newcomers
who managed to take out some of the older veterans. Players advancing
to the second round included GM Jonathan Lockwood, two-time champion
Bruno Sinigaglio, defending champion Vince Meconi, Patrick Mirk,
2001 champion Lane Newbury, two-time champion Gregory Smith,
James Tracy II, newcomer Joseph Collinson, Russian Campaign
champion and "newcomer" Gary Dickson, newcomer Bill
Riggs, and newcomer Andrew Miller, who would prove to be the
best of the newcomers, having been schooled in AFK by Gregory
Smith.

In the second round, the play balance stayed relatively even,
as the British recorded three victories to the Germans two, with
one victory occurring on a forfeit awarded to Patrick Mirk. Jonathan
Lockwood's Paleveda Gambit defense outlasted Bill Riggs German
assault, as the British counterattacked near Alexandria to kill
two German units and leave the Afrika Korps without supply for
counterattack, forcing the Germans to retreat. The Crusader reinforcements
then enabled the British to batter the Afrika Korps into submission
in one of the bloodier matches of the tournament. But the Joseph
Collinson-Andrew Miller match was the real slugfest of the event,
going the full 36 turns, with Miller's British defense managing
to hang on at Alexandria by the strength of a single unit remaining.
Also advancing were Bruno Sinigaglio (GE) over Gary Dickson (BR),
Lane Newbury (BR) over James Tracy II (GE), and Vince Meconi
(GE) over Gregory Smith (BR).

In the third round, there were just three matches, with the
British taking all three. Vince Meconi's British defense outlasted
Patrick Mirk's offensive, as supplies proved to be a crucial
factor in his undoing. The same could be said for the Newbury-Sinigaglio
match, as Sinigaglio's British defense stymied Newbury's offense,
giving Bruno a fourth round bye that would put him in the championship
match for the second straight year. And GM Lockwood had his hands
full with Andrew Miller, who as the Germans employed an "anti-Paleveda
Gambit" German opening designed to prevent Lockwood from
using his favorite defense. Lockwood shifted into a Modified
Standard defense, and the game became a very conservative setpiece
battle, with the Germans leaving a substantial force to contain
Tobruch while driving on Alexandria with just the 15th and 21st
Panzer Divisions. Lockwood counterattacked in November with the
Crusader reinforcements, destroying two Recce battalions with
automatic victories, along with two supply units in the exploitation,
to send the Germans into permanent retreat from Alexandria. But
Andrew Miller had already proved himself the best of the newcomers
by far, finishing fourth overall.

In the semifinal round, Vince Meconi decided to forfeit his
match against GM Lockwood in favor of continuing on in the VIP
tournament, which sent Lockwood against Sinigaglio in the finals.
Bruno employed a variation of his "anti-Paleveda" opening
designed to entice the British into employing the Paleveda Gambit,
then crushing it with massive force along the coast road. Lockwood
instead shifted immediately into a Modified Standard defense,
which would prove to be a better move, as the Germans missed
five of their first six supplies, and nine of their first 15
overall prior to November. Bruno methodically battered his way
to the gates of Tobruch, where he hurled the "Holy Hand
Grenade of Antioch" (1-1 against Tobruch) in October II
1941, resulting in an exchange, taking Tobruch at heavy cost
to the Afrika Korps. The match continued, with Lockwood bringing
up the November reinforcements to launch an offensive against
the Afrika Korps before it could rebuild. But in a last ditch
counterattack, Bruno unleashed a 1-1/1-2 combination attack against
Lockwood's forces on the escarpments which, if successful (1
in 18 chance), would have pocketed and destroyed an entire British
division and evened up the game. The attack failed, however,
and the Germans conceded shortly thereafter, giving GM Lockwood
his first AFK wood, and making him only the second player in
the AFK tournament to "do it all with defense" by winning
all of his matches as the British.